Recent Advances in the Tracer Technology Used for Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Breast Cancer

The high incidence of breast cancer poses one of the greatest risks to female health worldwide. Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is the standard of treatment for patients with axillary lymph node-negative early-stage breast cancer. Herein, the precise use of tracers is the key to ensuring the success of SLNB. However, owing to select-few limitations of traditional tracers, their clinical application is limited. New tracer techniques, such as the near-infrared fluorescent dye method (using indocyanine green), contrast-enhanced ultrasound, and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are being applied in clinical practice. In this paper, we review the recent progress in SLNB tracer technology.